De Laude Scriptorum Manualium

A very fine treatise On the Praise of Scribes, by Dom Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim, of Saint Benedict of the Bursfeld observance, to Gerlach, abbot of Deutz.

Begins the letter of Johannes Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim, to Dom Gerlach, abbot of the monastery of Deutz.

To the venerable and most beloved father, Dom Gerlach of Breitbach, abbot of Deutz, of the Order of Saint Benedict: Brother Johannes of Trittenheim, called abbot in Sponheim, of the same order, greeting and charity.

When recently, returning together from the annual chapter held at Erfurt, we were discussing various matters in turn concerning the majesty of the divine Scriptures, and were saying that through their splendor our religion had once been glorious, you asked me, with much insistence of charity, to write something for you, by which you might more easily stir your subjects to the love of writing. For you thought that this would be of profit to many, and especially to be commended among our own. Therefore, humbly giving assent to your prayers, I promised what I knew did not exceed the powers of my talent, taking confidence from the aid of the Most High and from brotherly charity, with which we desire continually to be armed in this life.

Hence, as soon as I was permitted to breathe a little from my occupations, with mind of faith I put my hand to the papers, and, aided by your prayers, arranged this modest little treatise which you see, On the Praise of Scribes. In it, if I have done anything less than I ought, you should know that it must be imputed to my various cares, by which I am for the most part so occupied that scarcely am I allowed, in snatched intervals, to return to the studies I desire.

Therefore let your charity, venerable father, receive the book which it has sought; let it read, examine, and, if it judges it worthy, allow it also to come to the knowledge of other brothers. For it may happen that by reading it the brothers will be incited to love of writing. But you, proceed on the path begun; apply yourself ardently to the sacred writings, and exhort your brothers in every way to do the same. Let them look upon that holy and venerable man Rupert, once abbot of your monastery of Deutz, who even by himself can suffice them as an example of study. He, with singular desire, the divine Scriptures then

...by reading and then by praying: through a vision, with the Holy Spirit teaching him, he deserved to make such progress in them that in his own time he had no equal in expounding the mysteries of the Scriptures. If by study we cannot attain to his measure, must we therefore cease from holy studies? Will the excellence of the others bar us from approaching sacred reading? Far from it. If we cannot imitate Augustine or Gregory, let us at least imitate those whose learning we know flowed forth from others. But each has his own gift from God: one in this way, another in that. Only let us beware that in the Lord’s field we are not barren, without the fruit of good studies. Farewell, remembering us. In the year of the Lord 1492.

There follow the chapters of the present work, On the Praise of Scribes.

The beginning of the book treats of the praise of scribes. First. ii. The commendation of the usefulness of sacred Scripture. iii. On the diligence and love of the ancients toward books. iv. With how great diligence they labored in writing. v. How fitting it is for monks to write. vi. How good and useful it is for them if they write. vi. That they should not excuse themselves from writing because of printing. vii. On orthography and the manner of writing. viii. On those who do not know how to write: what they should do. ix. What kinds of subject matter monks ought to write. x. Whether it is permitted to write on feast days. xi. On the distinction between the names of writers and of little works. xii. On the training of scribes and the avoidance of idleness. xiii. Whether a multitude of books is commendable. xiv. On the care and cleanliness to be maintained for books. xv. An exhortation to the study and love of the Scriptures. xvi. Here end the chapters of this book On the Praise of Scribes.

Here begins the book of lord Johannes Trithemius, abbot in Sponheim, On the Praise of Scribes, addressed to lord Gerlac, abbot of Deutz.

Since we are about to discourse on the praise of scribes, we invoke the aid of him who promised to sincere scribes the brightness of eternal life as a reward. For those who instruct many unto righteousness shall shine like stars for everlasting eternities. That this must be understood not only of those who forge new things from their own vein, but also of those who transcribe old things, we shall show in what follows, the Lord granting it. For however useful the teaching of a doctor may be, without the ministry of the scribe it is by no means brought down to the knowledge of posterity. Whatever good we do, whatever we teach fruitfully, is quickly snatched into oblivion unless it is committed to letters by the zeal of scribes. Scribes, therefore, give power to words, memory to things, vigor to times. If you remove them from the Church, faith wavers, charity grows cold, hope falls away, right perishes, law is confounded, the Gospel passes into oblivion. In short, if writing fails, the people will be scattered, devotion will be extinguished, the peace of Catholic unity, confounded, will be disturbed. But without scribes, writing cannot long remain safe: it is both broken by accident and corrupted by age. For printing is a thing of paper, and in a short time it is wholly consumed. But the scribe, entrusting letters to parchment, extends both himself and what he writes into a long time. Hence he enriches the Church, preserves faith, destroys heresies, drives away vices, instructs morals, and gives increase to virtues. The devout scribe, such as we intend to describe, praises God, gladdens angels, strengthens righteous men, corrects sinners, commends the humble, preserves the good, overthrows the proud, condemns the obstinate. The scribe distinguished by piety is God’s herald, because he announces God’s will both to those present and to those to come, promising eternal life to the good, pardon to the penitent, punishment to the negligent, damnation to those who despise him.

What is more salutary than this art, what more commendable in piety, which God loves, the angels cultivate, and all the citizens of heaven venerate? For this is what forges weapons for the faithful against heretics, casts down the proud, despoils demons by its strength, and sets a rule of living for Christians. This is what teaches the ignorant, strengthens the faint-hearted, cherishes the devout, and embraces the peaceable in love. What can be said by me worthily in praise of the writer? Whatever I may say falls below his praises, because my narrow spirit will be straitened within me before material worthy of so great an honor is lacking. I confess that it happens to me as usually happens to unskilled orators, who, terrified by the majesty of the subjects about which they had begun to speak, can neither say what they feel nor, because of shame, presume to be silent. And so it comes about that, while they fear to transgress the order and rules of speaking, they fall away from the useful purpose proposed. For just as the spirit of prophecy sometimes profitably deserts even prophets for a time, so too customary eloquence is not always present to orators. How much more easily, then, is trembling instilled in me, who am neither a rhetorician nor fit to adorn a broad subject with speech. My tongue, now dry, clings to my palate; my breath presses upon my dry breast; my sight trembles; likewise my pen; in my heart alone desire and love for the writer flourish. Therefore, when I have failed, let no one know that the subject-matter was lacking, but rather words for the speaker. Yet with Christ’s help I shall do what I can, since charity alone is the cause of our labor, which is rightly proclaimed able to do all things.

Commendation of the usefulness of sacred Scripture.

Chapter 2.

But before we pursue further the praises and usefulness of writers, it is pleasing to loosen the pen for a little in commendation of sacred Scripture, so that the brothers who are to be urged on to the study of writing may first be urged on to love of sacred knowledge. For unless the usefulness of the work is evident, persuasion to labor will not bend the mind.

Sacred Scripture, therefore, dearest brothers, is useful to us for many things; like a little boat on this great sea, it carries its lovers across to the shore without danger, while it raises minds from earthly things to heavenly ones, while it softens tribulations, while it lightens labors, while, uprooting vices, it plants virtues. For it kindles charity, increases faith, stirs devotion, and nourishes truth. Blessed is he who has loved it, provided that he has remained in its paths even to death. Better is its acquisition than the trade of gold and silver; its first and purest fruits are more precious than all riches. Knowledge of the Scriptures is more precious than all resources, and all things that are desired by human beings in this life cannot be compared with it. Length of days is in its right hand, and in its left hand are riches and glory. Its ways are beautiful ways, and all its paths are peaceful. It is a tree of life to those who have taken hold of it, and those who have held it fast are blessed. For it purifies the human heart, enlightens the understanding of its lover, and, sweetly inflaming the affection, makes it drunk. This I loved and sought out from my youth; I chose it as a bride, and became a lover of its beauty. Having fellowship with God glorifies its nobility; indeed, the Lord of all loved it.

For it is the teacher of the discipline of God and the chooser of his works. It is more beautiful than the sun, and above every arrangement of the stars; compared with light, it is found to be prior, because its radiance is never extinguished by darkness. He who loves knowledge of the Scriptures, his dwelling will be established in peace. For its conversation has no bitterness, nor does living with it have weariness, but gladness and joy. O how wonderful and sweet is the order of sayings present in the Scriptures, where the desire of the lover always increases, where satiety never produces disgust, where there is the delightful [unclear] of the righteous, where excess is not reproved, but rather frequent importunity is more praised. In this the knowledge of things pertaining to salvation is learned; in this eternal life is promised to those who believe rightly. For the Scriptures describe past things without falsehood, show present things otherwise than they appear, and announce future things before us as if from certainty. Everywhere in them truth reigns; everywhere divine power shines forth; everywhere from

necessary for the salvation of souls are disclosed to those who read.

For what usefulness and sweetness is not contained in the holy letters, if they are read with pure intention? There is what the strong man may eat; there what the little child may suck. There history proclaims the truth of the deed; there allegory strengthens faith; there tropology forms morals; there anagogy raises the mind to the heavenly homeland. It is wholly full of virtues, if it is read with devout and pure intention. Nothing there has been set down idly; nothing fashioned without cause of mystery. All things are full of mysteries and piety. For human reason did not discover these letters; rather, heavenly power once infused them into holy men. And they are then granted to be well understood when the devout mind has believed that they proclaim true and useful things. But the carnal man, however much he may be puffed up with knowledge, cannot understand the sacred scriptures, because the true knowledge of the scriptures is the devout humility of minds.

The truly studious lover of sacred knowledge easily obtains quiet of heart, because while he is intent on the teaching of the scriptures, he is less assailed by the vanity of the world. For that blessed man truly said: Love the knowledge of the scriptures, and you will not love the vices of the flesh! O, if the human mind did not grow lukewarm from such studies, how happy a state of the inner man would flourish. If the restless mind of mortals had no time of idleness, so easy an entrance would not lie open to the filth of vices. O, if our cloistered men now truly applied themselves to the studies of the scriptures as they once did, how useful they would be both to themselves and to the catholic Church. For the knowledge of the scriptures is what profitably sets the humble on high; enriches the poor; glorifies the despised; helps the devout; adorns prelates; separates monks from the world; purges vices; exalts by the steps of virtues. It is she indeed who forms faith, orders charity, raises hope, cultivates justice, instructs temperance, and directs prudence to the rule of piety.

Sacred scripture is the fountain of wisdom, the path of justice, the form of discipline, the storehouse of salvation, the mistress of truth. If you truly love her, you will find her; and if you remain in her company, she will delight your heart with ineffable joy, so that in comparison with her you will despise all the honors and riches of this world as a little dust. For she will teach you to overcome all the adversities of the world, to spurn the enticements of pleasures, to esteem the beauties of this life as foul things. If you have this beloved bride, you will never be ruinously sad, but always joyful, always cheerful, always advancing in the love of God. Moreover she will exalt you before God and men, and you will be admirable in the mouth of all, and your superiors will venerate you. There will be no one to contradict your words; you will have kings and princes as friends, and from remote parts of the earth they will send blessings to you. You will be glorious without ambition, and revered without fear. You will obtain an ineffable gift from her, and you will be venerable before all men. She will free you from the bond of this corrupt flesh, and will lead you before the throne of the most high King, where you will be clothed with the robe of joyful immortality. This mother is strong and very honorable; with her going before, you will pass safely through the camps of enemies. For she has the knowledge of God as her friend. Whoever you are, therefore, who love the salvation of your soul, do not depart from this mistress; do not neglect her precepts, so that you may be able to come to the love of God. To continue her friendship, an abundance of holy volumes is necessary for you. For without books you will not come to her familiarity.

On the diligence and love of the ancients toward books.

Chapter 3.

Now, therefore, by the example of the ancients, even of the gentiles, I shall try, as far as possible, to stir you to the love of books. For examples sometimes profit more than words, because when we see that others have already done what we are commanded to do, we fear less the hardness of the labor. But what is proposed as singular is judged more burdensome by the one undertaking it. Human weakness rejoices in the company of many, and what is more frequently practiced by many frightens less. Therefore, if we consider how great a diligence the ancients had in collecting books, our studies will appear as nothing, like children’s play. They spared no expense; they feared no labors, by which they might [unclear] a multitude of books

to acquire. Hence they not only bought up the volumes of their own peoples, but also, translating into their own language the sayings or deeds of any foreign nations whatsoever, strove to lay them up in public libraries. Among these, Pisistratus was the first among the Greeks to establish a library; after it had been enlarged by the Athenians, Xerxes, when Athens was burned, carried it off to Persia, and long afterward Seleucus Nicanor brought it back again to Greece. From this there arose among kings and other cities a zeal for gathering books of various peoples and translating them into another language through interpreters. Later King Alexander, surnamed the Great, although he was continually occupied with military expeditions, devoted his mind in a wonderful way to establishing libraries of all books. What shall I say of Ptolemy Philadelphus, a man most acute in every branch of learning? Since in his zeal for a library he emulated Pisistratus, he brought into his own library, with incredible fervor, not only the writings of the nations, but also the divine writings, translated at very great expense. For in his time seventy thousand books were found at Alexandria. Plato, chief of the philosophers, is said to have had so great a love for books that he bought the three books of Philolaus the Pythagorean for ten thousand denarii. Aristotle too, of no lesser renown among the philosophers, [unclear]; [unclear] of books, whose number is immense. Let us pass on to our own men. Ambrose, disciple and friend of the great Origen, burning with a credible zeal for books, daily urged Origen to write, indeed drove him to it, so that in a certain letter he affectionately called him the taskmaster of the work. The blessed martyr Pamphilus, [unclear] presbyter of Caesarea, loved books with so great a desire that, copying with his own hand the greater part of Origen's books, he gathered a very great multitude of books at Caesarea, with Eusebius cooperating. Saint Jerome the presbyter also, withdrawing from the city, although he despised all worldly things, confesses that he could not abandon only the library which he had founded for himself. Augustine, outstanding doctor of the Catholic Church, when he was about to die, entrusted to the brothers, as though by a special testament, that they should carefully guard the ecclesiastical library. It would be long if we wished to describe by name the foremost lovers of books whom we know, who flourished from the beginning of the Christian faith down to our own age. The almost countless volumes which they handed over to their libraries bear witness to their sacred love. We see in many monasteries, especially of our order, splendid and very ancient copies, which, written with marvelous fineness, demonstrate the diligence of the ancients. Once there was among the abbots and monks of our order an incredible zeal for books, since they knew that in them were found the adornment of the order and the remedy for infirm souls. For books are what create in us a desire for future blessedness, lessen the miseries of present exile, drive out vices, bring in virtues, bestow constancy in tribulation, and produce the fruit of allotted time. For what could we do except set our minds on earthly things, if we did not have the consolation of more pleasant writings? In short, the Catholic faith would quickly fail from human minds if the instruments of Scripture were not available, [unclear]. For among all manual exercises, none is so fitting for monks as to devote their zeal to writing sacred volumes. On the diligence of the ancients in writing books. Chapter 4.

Finally, if we carefully inspect the histories of time past, we shall both find and marvel with what great care the ancient and holy fathers devoted themselves to writing books, even with their own hands. For they knew the twofold usefulness of this art: that it was beneficial to themselves in many ways, for body and soul, and that it served posterity for the honorable conduct of life. Saint Pamphilus the martyr, as we have already said a little earlier, was so great a lover of this art that he copied out with his own hand the greater part of the books of Origen. If so great and worthy a man, a martyr of Christ, did not refuse to undertake the office of a scribe with such fervent desire, what shall we little worms say, who, dwelling in a monastery without care for temporal affairs, do not deign to set our hand to writings, neither by the example of the ancients nor by the command of prelates? That holy martyr will stand against us at the judgment as a witness of our sloth and laziness: we who neglect to imitate in peace what he performed with great desire in persecution. We read of Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, that he copied out with his own hand all the books published by him; of these I myself, lest you think them few, have now found more than a hundred. Who among us would dare to boast that he has copied out a hundred books published by others in the leisure of the monastery, when this most blessed bishop, placed in ecclesiastical care and occupied with many things, even recopied more books, which he himself had previously composed? Love of the Scriptures does not allow its devotees to be idle. But because we neglect to have this love in ourselves, we grow sluggish in inert leisure, so that things which are very easy for the studious are made difficult for us to accomplish. O how happy our order would be, brothers, if by the examples of the ancients we devoted ourselves earnestly to the study of the Scriptures. Let us look upon the ancient abbots and monks of our order, pillars of our religious life: Cassiodorus, Bede, Alcuin, Regino, Peter Damian, and the rest; with what great diligence they copied out the books of the ancients, for whom no labor seemed hard, no expenses burdensome, by which they could increase the adornment of their libraries.

Concerning this industry Cassiodorus and Peter Damian produced exceptional and very distinguished treatises. But neither, brothers, ought we carelessly to pass over your Rupert of Deutz, whose depth of intellect the bright mass of so many volumes adorned. For he himself, since he was a devout man and a most ardent lover of God and of the Scriptures, deserved to be divinely illuminated through a vision, so that in expounding the Scriptures Germany in his time had no one like him. He composed many excellent volumes, which he copied out with his own hands after the example of Ambrose, and cheerfully shared with others to be copied.

Among these, Cuno, abbot of the monastery of Siegburg and later bishop of Regensburg, a man zealous in the divine Scriptures, had almost all the treatises which your Rupert had fashioned copied out, both by himself and by his brothers. Hence the greater part of Rupert's volumes is held in the monastery of Siegburg. But Rupert himself also, gathering books of various arts, established at Deutz a most richly furnished library, which the malice of the times, as is evident, has long since scattered.

In many monasteries of our order also, the diligence of the ancients in writing volumes is still seen today, where twenty or thirty volumes, often most handsomely written by the hand of one man, are shown. Finally, in the Life of Saint Martin of Tours, Sulpicius relates that in his monastery no craft was practiced except that of copyists. From this it is plainly gathered that even the most holy fathers of old preferred this happy art to all manual exercises in monasteries. Therefore let none of you, brothers, shrink from what he knows the holy fathers did with such great diligence. As they benefited us by writing, so let us prepare memorials of salvation for those who come after us. For if the ancients had not written long ago, what would we now read? Indeed, if I had not resolved to serve brevity, I could still declaim many things about the diligence of the ancient copyists. But since I am speaking to those who know the histories, I wish to shorten the discourse I have begun.

That copying the books of the ancients is, as it were, the proper and fitting craft of monks.

Let us attend, brothers, to what Paul the Apostle says for our purpose, and what holy Benedict too, our lawgiver, proclaims in the Rule. For they are our leaders, whose commands it is fitting for us to obey. The first says thus: He who does not work, let him not eat. The second says: Then they are true monks, when they live from the labors of their own hands. Therefore, if the man who does not wish to work is forbidden to eat, idle monks should either not eat, or should acknowledge themselves transgressors of the apostle's precepts. But if they cannot live unless they eat, they must work, so that, working and eating, they may also be able to live well. For to live and not to live well is already to begin to die. But he lives badly who lives otherwise than he ought. We all ought, however, [unclear] according to the rule of life; the end of the worst condition is the beginning [unclear], unless repentance is undertaken before the end of life.

Likewise, if those are true monks who live from the labors of their own hands, it follows that those are not true monks who, living idly, despise work. But he who is not a true monk in a monastery, what, I ask, is he? He is not what he is, who is not true. Certainly he is not a monk who is not a true one; and what is contrary to truth is not as it ought to be. But what is not as it ought to be contradicts the highest truth, which has established for all things the due order of being. And therefore it truly is not.

And so we must work; what better suits us, is more expedient, and comes closer to our profession than the office of writing? For, bound to the divine offices, we cannot dig; we cannot bear the hard and heavy labors of the fields, because if it happened that we were worn out outdoors through the day in rustic works, the divine service in choir would perish. But since service to God must be placed before all labors, it would be very unfitting for monks to immerse themselves in exterior things while interior things were neglected. But the labor of writing does not hinder

hours assigned to the divine office; for when the course of the hours is divided by intervals of time, a fitting space is allotted to each. We read of Saint Bede, the venerable monk, that although he wrote many volumes, he nevertheless was seldom accustomed to absent himself from the divine service on account of study; but, content with the interval between the hours, he wrote the books he published, almost innumerable. Nevertheless, if the abbot judges it useful and it is necessary, a good scribe may sometimes be excused from the common services. But in this freedom the proper circumstances must necessarily be weighed. For not every spirit is to be believed. The office of a monk is to lament both his own misdeeds and those of others, and to await with fear the coming of the Lord; to devote himself often to prayer and contemplation; to flee the world; to sit in solitude. But in this our age, what monk will you give me, one out of thousands, who dwells continually on the mountain of contemplation? Since, therefore, we are sluggish for prayer and untrained for contemplation, lest we run out into vain desires, we shall be able to compensate for this deficiency by no labors better than if we devote our study to writing volumes for the edification of many. But if there is anyone who, in the hours free for prayer and contemplation, can apply himself to them properly and steadfastly, he will be excused from the burden of writing. But let the examination of this matter be placed in the discretion of the abbot, or of some other experienced man. For one must not quickly trust the impulses of young men. For often, when they think they have already arrived at the mountain of contemplation, they draw near to dangerous errors. Therefore, O abbot or prior, if you see a young monk not yet well instructed in active habits, but still seething with his own passions, even if he says marvelous things, do not permit it; but seize his feet and cast him down to the earth of subjection, so that he may learn not to savor lofty things in pride and elation of heart, but to agree with the humble. In this we are not saying that you ought to prohibit one who can act well, but that you should teach such men, if they are ours, the order of making progress, lest, if the beast touches the mountain, it perish overwhelmed with stones. But he who has crucified his flesh with its vices and desires, who knows how to rule over his passions, who has learned to live humbly under obedience, even if he is young, is fit to ascend the mountain of God. But let him who is still subject to animal passions, who is still weak and feeble, keep his foot from approach to the mountain and devote his effort to the holy exercises of the active life. Such men, therefore, are to be assigned to the office of writing, lest, being ruinously released to their own freedoms, they cast themselves headlong into the pit of error. For no one suddenly becomes supreme; rather, by fixed degrees of distinctions, a man advances to the heights. One must begin from the active life, so that one may duly come to the contemplative. But in no matter can a monk come closer to the perfection of the active life than if, out of charity, he keeps watch in copying the divine Scriptures. For from what source will he give alms, who has nothing? But a devout scribe is recognized as fulfilling works of mercy more abundantly, and his labor is proved to be of greater merit. Hence someone sang thus: The scribe preaches and studies, gives freely and prays. He afflicts himself, gives [unclear], and [unclear] a fountain for those to come. He enriches the Church, arms it, guards it, honors it. What labor is more useful than this, which is honored with so many privileges? Finally, if anyone desires to be better informed about this matter, let him read the book of the chancellor of Paris On the Praise of Scribes. For there he will see the benefits of writing already mentioned set out abundantly, and many compositions gathered together in praise of the good scribe. Therefore no labor exercised by the hands accords more with our purpose than the office of writing. Considering this in former times, monks copied books with incredible desire, knowing that this art was singularly beloved by almighty God. For God wills us to know and do his will, and carefully to keep his commandments. But his will would in no way reach our knowledge unless he had committed it to letters by this industry of the scribe. Scribes, therefore, are messengers of the will of God, who have handed it down to us through letters.

How good and useful it is for monks to write. Chapter VI.

Great, therefore, is the usefulness of this most sacred art, which announces the will of God not only to those present, but also to those to come. Monks, moreover, who write divine books, who have the office not of teaching but of lamenting, since they are unable to preach by speech, announce by hand and pen the will of the Lord to those far in the future. And the piety of the scribe is greater than the office of the preacher, because the admonition of the one perishes with time, while the announcement of the other endures for many years. The preacher speaks only to those present; the scribe preaches also to those to come. The word of the one, once heard, is quickly reduced to nothing; the reading of the other, repeated a thousand times, is never diminished. When the preacher fails, the office ceases; the scribe, even when dead, gives instruction in morals in the volume. The office of the preacher has little value if it is not aided by the ministry of the scribe. For what will he preach, if the scribe has not written what he may read? Therefore, from the piety of the scribe the sermon of the preacher is made useful; [unclear].

Four chief advantages, moreover, the devout monk obtains in writing. The time, which is most precious, is spent fruitfully; his understanding is illuminated while he writes; his inward affection is kindled to devotion; and after this life he is rewarded with a singular recompense. How could a monk spend the time granted to him more fruitfully than to devote himself, with the love of God, to the writing of volumes? For God favors this office; the angels rejoice with it and assist it; the sincere devotion of all the faithful serves it. Finally, meanwhile, because he copies good and devout materials, he does not suffer empty or base thoughts to trouble him; he does not speak idle words; he is not stained by rumors; but, sitting quiet and alone, he feasts with joy upon the scriptures, and by good exercises provokes those who look on to glorify God. For while he writes good materials, by writing he is gradually brought into the knowledge of mysteries, and inwardly in his mind [unclear], because we who write and read treat them with some delay.

The mind also of the writer is for the most part more happily kindled to devotion, while, ruminating on the scriptures, he is often inflamed by them. But what reward in heaven is owed to the devout scribe can easily be gathered from his many labors. For we believe that the devout and sincere scribe is not deprived, in that recompense of the just, of the preacher’s aureole, since he is seen to teach so many in the faith by hand. For what the one teaches by speaking, this one teaches by the office of writing.

There was in a certain monastery of our order, not unknown to me, a certain devout brother who had great zeal in writing volumes for the adornment of the library, so that whenever he could be free from the divine office, betaking himself to the secrets of his cell, he would devote himself to this sacred labor. Hence he also copied out many little works of the saints with great devotion. When, after his death and after many years, his bones were lifted from the earth, three fingers of the right hand, with which he had written so many volumes, were found so whole and incorrupt as if they had been placed in the tomb at that same time. The rest of the body, however, as is customary, had been consumed down to the bones. From this testimony it is gathered how holy this office is judged before almighty God; for, in order to show its merit to all who live, he honored the members of scribes even in dead bodies.

O my brothers, if you knew the usefulness of this work, you would not be so sluggish and slow for the office of the scribe. Or do you think that God can be appeased by the sacrifices of fools? A humble brother who, devoutly from obedience, copies out one book has greater merit before God than he who seems, both devoutly and on his own authority, to be free for contemplation. For obedience is better than sacrifices. A monk, moreover, if he is ordered, must set aside a good work and fulfill the lawful will of the abbot, not his own. For evil must never be done for the sake of obedience. Therefore, dearest brothers, do not neglect this good; do not despise the zeal for writing. For it is a great good, and very useful to the Catholic Church and to your souls. If anyone has practiced himself in it, he will recognize how great its usefulness is. Begin with desire, and with love you will complete it. Let each one rejoice to have brought, by his labors, some usefulness to others in the house of God. Clement and [unclear] is the Lord, [unclear].

your labors, so pious, so useful, so necessary to the Church, will not pass without the greatest recompense.

That, because of printing, one must not desist from writing volumes. Chapter VII.

[unclear], brothers, let no one say: “What need is there for me to weary myself by writing, when the art of printing pours forth so many and such great books into the light that with little money we can furnish a great library?” Truly, whoever speaks in this way is trying to make darkness for his own leisure. Who does not know how great the distance is between writing and printing? For writing, if it is put on parchment, can endure for a thousand years; but printing, since it is a thing of paper, how long will it last? If it can endure in a paper volume for two hundred years, that is a great thing, although there are many who think that printing will be consumed by its own material. Posterity will judge this. Indeed, even if many volumes have been printed, they will never be printed to such an extent that you cannot always find something not printed to write. Nor [unclear], even if all the books of the whole world were printed, should the devout scribe in any way desist from his pursuit, but he should also perpetuate useful printed books by writing, since otherwise they cannot last long. For by doing this he will give firmness to writings that totter, greatness of value to cheap things, longevity of time to perishable things.

Moreover, the devout scribe will always find something in which, by applying himself to his office, he may earn merit. He does not allow himself to be constrained under the printer’s condition. He is free, and he will rejoice in the office of his liberty. For he is not inferior to the printer, so as to abandon his pursuit because of the other’s printing. But, prudently passing him by, he proceeds gladly on the path begun, knowing that his crown before God will not be diminished by any importunity of another. But he who ceases from the pursuit of writing because of printing [unclear] is not a true lover of writings, because, looking only to present things, he has no concern for the edification of posterity. But we, dearest brothers, looking to the reward of this holy labor, should not cease from its pursuit, even if we have many thousands of volumes. For printed books are never compared on equal terms with written codices. For printing very often neglects orthography and the other ornaments of books; writing, however, is a matter of greater diligence.

Chapter VIII.

But in order that the devout scribe may usefully fulfill his office, and may render the books that he writes adorned with beautiful grace, let him observe most diligently the precepts of orthography; without these, books, however useful, are rendered ugly and contemptible. On this matter abundant instructions are found in the old codices of the authors, over which it is not the business of the present time to linger any longer. The examples of learned men are also precepts of diligence for new scribes. Let us inspect the most ancient volumes that learned scribes wrote, and from imitation of them take the advantage of our art. Among them there were some who applied exact diligence in writing, so that they wrote not only correctly but also skillfully, distinguishing the volumes with signs, cola, and figures in beautiful variety, so that by the sight alone you seem to be invited to the reading of them. Although among the ancients unskilled scribes disfigured their codices, since they either did not know, or did not wish to understand, how to write well. But you should know that not the negligence of the unskilled, but the [unclear] of the learned, which they also [unclear], is set before you to be imitated. In antiquity they did not admit scribes indiscriminately, but only the learned and educated, who from their skill in signs were also called notaries. They wrote volumes not only beautiful but also corrected, with wondrous subtlety. These I should like you to imitate, because it is worthy and just that most holy Scripture, brought forth from the mouth of God for our edification,

and that it be written both correctly and elegantly. What shall I say about certain scribes of this age, who, although for the most part they understand what they are writing, are so lazy and idle that they are unwilling to apply any diligence at all to the writings? These are corrupters of the correctness of the Scriptures, falsifiers of the bulls of the pontiff Jesus Christ, foolish and perverse messengers: for when they write the will of God, they ought to announce it with fear and concern; on the contrary, they handle it negligently and corruptly.

If, according to the statutes of the canons, he who falsifies the letters of the pope is excommunicated, with what penalty should he be punished who corrupts the Scriptures of God? Just as a devout and diligent scribe renders great fruit in the Church of God by writing, so the idle and negligent one brings very great losses upon it. For when he corrupts the Scriptures he announces false things to the Church as true; he hinders readers from holy study; he takes away understanding; he overturns the order of teaching. I have said these things against those who abuse the gift of understanding bestowed on them, and who, from laziness or negligence, are not ashamed to corrupt the holy Scriptures by writing them falsely. But against those who are less learned, and earnestly do what they can, so harsh a judgment is not to be brought. For no one sins unwillingly. Therefore, when a devout scribe has carefully copied a book, let him compare it again with the exemplar; wherever he has erred, let him correct it by careful emendation. By doing this, the scribe himself is found suitable and faithful, and the book acceptable in its proper order. If it can be done, let books be adorned with fair decoration, so that even by their appearance they may draw those who look at them to reading. For we know that the ancients took great care for this: that outward beauty should commend the inner beauty of books. For Holy Scripture is most worthy of every ornament. Yet care must be taken that the ornament itself not be over-elaborate, lest we put beauty before correctness; for where propriety is admitted, curiosity is forbidden. At the same time, let us not be marked by the saying of Jerome, with which he reproves the unskilled, who prefer to have beautiful books rather than corrected ones. And concerning a multitude of books, a similar judgment will have to be applied.

Concerning those who cannot write. Chapter IX.

But if any brothers should be so untrained and dull that they know absolutely nothing of writing, we advise first of all that they learn, for nothing is so difficult that it does not yield to good will. But if they are wholly unable to learn this most sacred art, we shall give ready counsel, lest they be altogether deprived of the fruit of so holy a work.

Therefore assist the scribes in other things, if you yourselves cannot devote yourselves to writing volumes. Let one correct what another has written; let another adorn in red what the former has emended; let this one divide it with marks and figures; let that one glue and bind the codex with boards. You will fit the boards; that one the leather; let another prepare the plates for ornament. Let no service be lacking here by which the devoted scribe, relieved, may be able to continue his office. In short, many things pertain to the practice of writing, each of which individuals can prepare.

Let one cut the parchment, another clean it; let a third make it ready for the scribes by ruling lines; let another supply ink, another pens. For you always have means by which you ought to support your scribes. Nor should it displease you if a useful scribe, by the abbot’s judgment, is sometimes relieved from conventual burdens.

I am addressing you, brothers, who for some reason are hindered and cannot write; to you I have set forth these teachings with special intent. Look at the distinguished monks of our order in former times, such as the contemporaries of Bede, Rabanus, Haimo, and the other venerable abbots: with what great cheerfulness they served the scribes. For, burning with an incredible love of the Scriptures, they considered themselves blessed and happy if they had been able to help their teachers and scribes in anything. This zeal of the monks, together with holiness of morals, once magnificently exalted our venerable order; when it failed, the excellence of the order collapsed and perished. Now therefore, brothers, for the salvation of your souls and of the order, devote yourselves fervently to the sacred writings, so that with joy you may be able to reach those who laudably preceded you in this. Let no one

[unclear] of writing dare to excuse himself, who desires to escape the penalty of the idle. If you cannot write elegantly, write as you are able; only take care of this, that you do not corrupt the sense of the Scriptures by your negligence. For I would rather have a corrected codex than a beautiful one, a meager one than none. Do not say, therefore, “Because I do not know how to write well, I am therefore excused”; but write as you can, and nothing more is required of you.

On the material that they should write. Chapter 10.

But if it is asked what sorts of materials monks ought to write, we answer briefly: such as the obedience of their superiors enjoins. For it lies in the judgment of the abbot or prior what he wishes to enjoin each one to write. Yet they should take care not to assign to weak brothers for writing such materials from whose reading they may become weaker. For it is not expedient that all materials be read by everyone. But if some such thing must be written, let it be assigned to stronger and learned brothers, who know how to suck honey from the rock and oil from the hardest stone. The books of the holy fathers, however, by which they explained the divine Scriptures, are to be written by monks with particular zeal, because from knowledge of them they are more richly instructed toward understanding the mysteries of God. But also the treatises of the same fathers which are suitable for arousing devotion are to be written by our scribes with special intention. And in general all books which serve either for establishing good morals or for the integrity of the orthodox faith are to be acquired for the studies of monks. Nor do we reject codices of secular letters; indeed we value them, since knowledge of them is very necessary to us for understanding the holy Scriptures. The ancient monks, not ignorant of this, were instructed in all the disciplines of secular literature. Four things, moreover, must be known by monks, so far as their state is concerned, without knowledge of which ecclesiastical unity could not long subsist in its strength: theology, music, laws, and the art of computus. To those who understand, the reasons for each are plain; we have set them out more fully in another place.

And concerning these things too our scribes had to be admonished, lest they regard the sciences of secular letters as useless. Therefore let the providence of the abbot provide for each, according to his capacity, what he should write. But if abbots immerse themselves in the cares of secular affairs, as many do, and neglect books, the monks should nevertheless continue the pursuit of writing, nor should anyone wish to lose his own progress because of the negligence of abbots. In this case let a solicitous prior make up for the deficiency of a sluggish abbot, and assign to the brothers suitable materials for writing. For I know several distinguished monasteries whose priors, notwithstanding the abbots’ sloth, have furnished most splendid libraries. Therefore if the brothers are free to write, let each choose for himself individual teachers whose volumes they may write: one Origen, another Basil, another Augustine, another Jerome, and so on with the rest, according to each one’s inclination, because from this they very often make greater progress in sacred study. But if they are not free, let them know that obedience to the prelate is rightly to be preferred to their own choice. The brother scribes too, who wish to make progress in the study of the divine Scriptures, should make for themselves little books which they call rapiaria, so that when in writing they run through the books of the holy fathers, if they find anything worthy of memory, they may gather it after the example of the most sagacious bee; and, heaping up useful sentences like fragrant flowers in the beehive of their own volume, they may have them ready, so that at the opportune time they may know how to bring forth a suitable discourse. The venerable monk Bede is read to have done this; Rabanus the abbot, Bonaventure the cardinal, and very many other most learned men are remembered to have practiced this. For one who keeps this order of learning makes much progress toward the understanding of sacred Scripture. But let him take care not to prefer private study to the usefulness of very many; that is, by continually lingering over his own collections, let him not pass by the good of obedience. For studies that resist the laws of obedience will not prosper. Let him hold the mean in each respect, lest he fail by writing too much, or, having leisure for himself, place obedience and charity after his own advantages.

While the damp leaves are drying, or when the head, wearied from labor, trembles, let him, as a kind of solace, keep watch over his collections. But also on feast days, when he is free from prayers, let him attend to such things.

Whether it is permitted for monks to write on feast days. Chapter XI.

Now, the occasion having been given by the preceding matters, it is asked whether it is lawful for monks to write on feast days, on which in the law they are commanded to abstain from servile works. We read that this question was once put by certain persons to John, formerly chancellor of Paris, a most learned man; and in his book On the Praise of Scribes, after developing it through twelve considerations, he finally concludes thus, saying: “Nothing prevents one from writing books or short treatises or little books of devotion on feast days, provided moderation is observed, such as a wise man will judge proper in this work; and this assuredly is not to be deemed servile, but sometimes tends more to the honor of the Church than the multiplication of vocal prayer, indeed than the unbecoming repetition of masses in some cases.” Thus he.

But we, adding this with humility, say that a monk placed under obedience, if at the command of his prelate he writes useful materials on feast days, should fear nothing, because the obedience of one writing is better than the sacrifices of his own will. Yet on this occasion let him not neglect those things to which he is bound by the institution of the feast, such as celebrating or hearing Mass and duly performing the canonical hours. Therefore he does well who writes books on feast days, provided the due circumstances are carefully observed. But he who can fittingly persist in divine contemplation is believed to hold a more excellent degree, unless the merit of obedience rightly intervenes. For obedience adds increase to good works, and from equal things makes better ones. Since, then, we are weak men and less fit for contemplation, it is better to make good this loss by writing than to be occupied, as commonly happens, with useless conversations. Since we also cannot always read or pray, there is nothing after these by which we may occupy ourselves more usefully than if we devote our effort, with devotion, to writing books. By this we not only instruct ourselves, but also prepare material for edification for those who will come long after us. The scribe teaches good things by writing no less than the preacher teaches holy things by preaching. And what is permitted to the latter, who forbids to the former?

And, as we have already said, studious brothers, especially on feast days, consulting their devotions, may confidently write their little commonplace books, unless, as has been said, obedience commands them to do something else. In all these matters, however, the intention of the one commanding must be made clear, and the devotion of the one writing must also be regulated. But those who write anything for payment, however useful the material may be, are excluded from this liberty and shall cease from work on feast days, because in intention they serve earthly gains; and therefore it is judged a servile work, unless perhaps some other regard of piety intervenes, which rarely happens.

On the distinction between scribes and the names of small works. Chapter XII.

Among the ancients scribes were known by a twofold name. The first were called antiquarii, because they wrote only old things, taking their name from their office. The second were called librarii, who wrote both new things and old. When antiquarii wrote, they used old letters as well; librarii, however, used new ones. Librarii are so called from liber, that is, the inner bark which adheres to the wood, because before the use of paper or parchment, volumes were put together from the bark of trees, just as traces are still sometimes found today in the very oldest libraries.

Now, for the instruction of the devout scribe, it is pleasing to describe a little the variety of small works, as they are related by [Rabanus?], once a most skilled man, because knowledge of them will not be useless to the brothers, so that they may know how they ought to name each kind of small work. There are, therefore, three kinds of small works. The first kind are called excerpta, which the Greeks call scholia, in which those things that seem

obscure or difficult matters are touched upon summarily and briefly.

The second kind is homilies, which we call a “word,” and they are delivered to the people. The third kind is tomes, which we call books or volumes. Homilies are for the common people; tomes, that is, books, are of a more substantial disputation. A dialogue is a conference of two persons, from dia and logos, which is “the speech of two.” A treatise is the manifold exposition of a single subject. Commentaries are so called as if “comments”; for they are interpretations: comments on law, comments on the Gospel. An apologetic is a book of excuse, in which certain persons are accustomed to answer accusers. A panegyric, that is, laudatory, is a licentious and wanton kind of speaking, in praises of kings and princes; in composing it men flatter with many lies. A prologue is a preface before a book, as the prologue of blessed Jerome on Genesis. A proem is the beginning of a speech or work, and is often taken for a preface. A simperasma is the conclusion of some work, and in our usage it is treated as of the third declension, like dogma. Biblos, that is, a codex, is a book of many books, as the codex of the Bible, which contains many books. A book is a partial treatise divided by itself, or a single one, as one book of Augustine on penance, or four on Christian doctrine, etc. A volume is a book, so called from rolling, as volumes of the law, volumes of the prophets. Books of fasti are those in which kings and consuls are written, because they were made from the bark of those same [unclear], or because they flutter in a codex after the manner of leaves. Verses are so called from turning, because the ancients wrote as [unclear] of trees were named: for first they led the stylus to the right, then they turned back from below and again wrote toward the left. A draft-sheet, sceda scede, is what is still being corrected and has not yet been reduced to a fair copy; for this we say “conceptions,” as if unpolished materials. The instruments of a scribe, moreover, are the reed and the pen.

On Establishing Scribes in Monasteries.

Chapter 14.

Since, as we have said above, no craft is so fitting for the profession of monks as the office of writing, for the reason that many weak and feeble persons, not to say untrained ones, are not suited to higher exercises. For it has not been granted to all always to devote themselves to contemplation or prayer, or to instruct others by preaching. There are indeed some idle and lazy men who excuse themselves, indeed boast, saying: “I do not know how to write.” If you do not know, learn; otherwise, he who does not labor, let him not eat. Ignorance does not excuse you from the duty, when, easily conquerable as it is, you neglect to overcome it. If only good will were in you, assiduity would quickly provide the art of writing. Therefore, to remove the excuses of the lazy, it seems advisable and very profitable that abbots should have monks instructed in the art of writing, either by their own monks or by others, because from this both the material of excuse is taken away from the lazy, and very great usefulness is produced from it. For idleness is an enemy of the soul, and desires kill the lazy man. But if anyone is lazy or malicious, so that he will by no means consent to write, he must be afflicted with other labors and abstinences until he asks as a consolation for what he previously despised. Yet let the abbot be cautious in all things, and let the arduous things always be preceded by charity. The demons will hate this discipline greatly, knowing that through its ministry the salvation of many is procured. Therefore they strive with every effort to draw monks back from its office, and sometimes to bring them so far that many, resisting their prelates even to the crime of disobedience, fall into a horrible calamity. We have already known very many such men, disobedient to their superiors, who, so that they might not be able to write, at the devil’s persuasion became cruel to themselves and fell into extreme madness. But let us omit these things, lest they harm weak readers more than they profit them. No one has a legitimate excuse when the defect consists in will alone. For those who wish to learn will always find suitable instructions, or from [unclear].

or to be instructed by others who know, or from ancient books. The practice of writing is also of great use for progress, because if this art is long interrupted, it is gradually unlearned. For no discipline, however celebrated, is retained for long without practice. Practice, indeed, is the strength of an art. Let monks who do not wish to write read the book of blessed Augustine On the Work of Monks, and let him blush for his sloth who lives idly contrary to the decrees of the fathers. Scripture says: “Every idle man is in desires.” Why? Because, while the mind is not bent outwardly by exercise to useful work, being empty within it is defiled by unclean thoughts. Fullness of bread and idleness led the Sodomites to eternal destruction. Idleness is the mother and wellspring of all vices, and the destruction of all virtues. For it spends acceptable time fruitlessly and shamefully; it carries away the supports of virtues; it suggests lust; it diminishes strength; it kills the soul. Therefore flee idleness, you who desire to arrive at eternal life, which has been promised not to the idle but to those who labor.

And this sloth is especially reprehensible in monks, who are called not from labor to idleness, but from idleness to labor. But if you say to me, “I cannot write; I cannot remain in the cell through the whole day; I will gladly go to exterior labors; I will by no means refuse to dig or carry stones, provided only that I do not suffer distress in those things which are wholly contrary to me,” I shall answer briefly: it is not a good comparison which withdraws from a better progress. It is better to write than to dig, to read sacred books than to carry stones, unless obedience or piety, which has force in all things, has chosen to intervene. If you cannot write, if you cannot remain alone in the cell, why did you wish to come to the monastery, when you were not going to live as a monk? For to live in a cenobium not as a monk is to bind oneself to damnation by the sentence of one’s own mouth. For a monk, according to the interpretation of his name, is commanded to sit alone in the cenobium, so that through silence he may be separated from the cares of the world. Therefore, if you refuse to be what you promised, you lie to God as a transgressor of your vow. But to lie to God is to condemn oneself by one’s own mouth. You vowed the conversion of your ways according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, which commands monks to labor to such a degree that it denied that idle monks are monks.

But by the fact that you desire to be occupied with exterior labors, you show that you are empty of interior exercise. For whichever of the monks these labors delight, they must necessarily abandon the interior ones. You are being led, I say, to exterior labors by a diabolical impulse, which knows that the interior ones are contrary to itself. If you were a true monk, you would not abhor the secrecy of the cell, which is especially fitting to your honor. In our age there is not such devotion among monks that, after the example of the ancients, they can make progress in works of agriculture. These labors destroy devotion more than they build it up. For as soon as one has come to conversations, no speech of edification, or scarcely any, is brought forth; rather, mouths are opened most eagerly to the business of the world. Pleasant discussion is held about the wars of kings, the conflicts of princes, the pomps of the age; no guard at all is applied to silence.

Therefore, freed from these labors as from certain bonds of distractions, and turning the mind to interior things, let us love the secrecy of the cell, let us apply ourselves more often to prayer and reading, let us write the books of the holy fathers with devotion, let us seek foods that feed the soul, since by our labors we cannot nourish our bodies. Let him who does not know how to write learn from others who know, and let him subject his own will to obedience if he desires to escape the penalty of those who eat idly. For the devout brother will always find writers by whom he may be instructed. And because a good will deserves grace, so that it may always advance by pious increases, it is more frequently to be honored with suitable stipends. Therefore, when the abbot has seen that his brothers are ready to obey and willing and cheerful in writing, let him pursue them with greater kindness, honor them with fitting favors, and sometimes lighten the burdens of the others. And because such devout brothers, on account of obedience and love of the Scriptures, neglect themselves, let the abbot provide for them in all necessities more abundantly than for the others, who scorn to be such and to be found such. For by doing this he will both preserve the good in holy zeal and provoke others to imitate them. Yet under pretext of this opinion let him not transgress the paths [of the Rule?].

Whether it is commendable in monasteries to have many books. Chapter 14.

There are some who reproach lovers of books for their multitude, as if for excess, saying that few books are sufficient for the formation of a good life: books that teach us to flee vices and love virtues. For they say to those whom they see to love books: Why do you burden yourselves with such a multitude of books, when you cannot read all those you have? For it is better to have a few books and read them than to pass by many stored up in a library without reading them.

To these we reply briefly. If it is blameworthy to have many volumes, since a few could suffice for saving knowledge, let them also admit that it was evil for the holy fathers to have written so many and almost innumerable books. Why did Origen publish six thousand books, why Augustine a thousand, why Ambrose two hundred, why Jerome three hundred, when a few suffice for the formation of a good life? Or perhaps it is permitted to write many, but not to possess them? To what purpose, then, are they written, if it is not permitted to have them? If it is evil to buy many books, why did the holy fathers in former times apply such diligence in collecting and writing them? Are you so foolish that, asserting good to be evil and evil good, while you bark without distinction against lovers of books, you do not fear also to speak against the most holy fathers, whose imitators you reproach, accusing those fathers as though they had proceeded badly? If it is evil to imitate, how will it be good to have gone before? But because you cannot justly reproach the zeal of the saints, if you are wise, cease tearing at their imitators. For if it was good for them, it will not be evil for these.

Behold, you gather gold and silver; you join field to field, and you do not judge it evil. But you say: To collect money for the present necessity of the brothers belongs to prudence, and to store it up for the future belongs to just reason. But to buy so many innumerable books belongs not to providence but to curiosity. O emperor of covetousness, O prince of avarice: what honesty does your sloth not attack? What does your savage greed not gnaw away? That you may revile lovers of sacred knowledge, you commend avarice. Out of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaks, and your speech testifies that you are an adversary of wisdom. It is not prudence, as you pretend, but avarice; not the necessity of the brothers, but desire for gold. You have hated discipline and have cast the words of the Lord behind your back, and as though you were glorying in distinguished justice. But let these things pass, to come forth in public at another time.

All books of the good arts, however, are good, especially those that conduce to the understanding of sacred Scripture. Therefore it is not evil to have good books, unless prohibition makes it unlawful. But no commandment is found that forbids a multitude of books. Why then do you insult us over an abundance of books? Why do you condemn a holy and necessary study in the Church? It is good to have dared to say steadfastly that there should be both many and good books in a monastery, by which the zeal of the brothers may be advanced, even if they are not able to read them all. Nor should the authorities of secular writers be kept out of monks’ libraries; without knowledge of them, I do not think anyone perfectly understands the divine books.

For if we examine the libraries of the ancient fathers of our order, such as Bede in England, Rabanus in Fulda, Haymo in Hirschfeld, Peter in Vivarium, Notker at Saint Gall, Guimund at Saint-Leufroy, Sigebert in Gembloux, Heriger also at Lobbes, and other most learned and venerable fathers who shone in knowledge and holiness in the Church of God, we shall find an abundance of books in every faculty, in every science, in every doctrine. This we can also easily recognize from their little works, since they show that they were skilled in all literature, both divine and human. To imitate the examples of these men is honorable and useful for monks.

Moreover, there is nothing in this life so pious, so wholesome, so holy, that an evil will cannot abuse it. Thus it will also be able to happen with a multitude of books, if the cause is not love of God and of the Scriptures, but curiosity or pride. Therefore let him who is watchful in collecting volumes take heed that his appetite not be set upon vanity. Let him strive to direct his intention to the proper end, if he does not wish to stray from the good.

On the custody and cleanliness to be maintained for books. Chapter XV.

Since the greatest treasure of the Church is the abundance of writings, whoever neglects to guard holy books diligently does injury to the Church. For books are the weapons with which she fortifies herself against heretics; whoever allows them either to be dispersed or to perish is proved to love the Church too little. If he loved her as he ought, he would by no means permit her to be stripped of her own weapons. Therefore we earnestly exhort lovers of books to guard the library carefully, or to entrust it to such librarians as will allow nothing to be stolen from it. From libraries the discipline of monks is easily known, and from their books it can quickly be observed what they study. If I come to your house, there is no need for me to ask you what you study: your volumes will give testimony concerning your actions. Your codices are honored. If you neglect them, they will neglect you; if you despise them, they will despise you. Finally, “Those who despise me,” says the wisdom of God, which is recognized in books, “shall be without honor.” If your volumes fly about torn on the benches, if they are covered with dust, if they are stained within, if they are disordered without, they will proclaim you unlearned and a hypocrite, even if you are regarded as a doctor. How will you be able to love learning, if you despise and neglect the books that instruct you?

Just as wisdom loves and inhabits the dwelling-place of a pure heart, so the lover of wisdom loves the cleanliness and adornment of books. For whoever tears the house of another shows that he does not revere the one who dwells in it. And whoever handles books of divine or human writings negligently and filthily proves that he does not love the knowledge contained in them. Therefore let our Philobiblos devote the utmost zeal to the custody and adornment of books; let him arrange the books at the desk according to their subjects or dignities, so that studious brothers may more quickly be able to find what they seek. Let him not think that any subject is to be cast out of his library, except the dogmas of heretics, because no book is so slight that it cannot be useful for some purpose. Let the library be under secure custody, and let it not lie open indiscriminately to everyone, but only to those whom love and study of the Scriptures recommend. For we have known many losses inflicted on libraries because they lay open without discrimination to all. Nor are books to be readily sent out from their places, except under pledge and sure confidence. Inventories of all the books of libraries should be kept, so that nothing can be carried off or lost.

Moreover, let our zealous supporter of useful disciplines sometimes visit the books that he loves, and let him examine most diligently how rightly they are kept. Finally, let him not be sparing and envious in communicating volumes from the library to studious men, because a hidden treasure and concealed wisdom are proved to be as if useless. Therefore, whenever he is asked for volumes to be copied out, let him willingly lend them to students, yet under the sure caution of a pledge, so that he may both guard his own treasure for the monastery and make others rich without any diminution of it. But whoever receives books under pledge to be copied out should take diligent care that he neither soil nor tear them; but, according to the sentence, while they receive a rule for their studies, let them take care not to stain or destroy them, but, reading with devotion and purity, let them keep them unstained. But if anyone handles codices negligently and filthily, let him be punished as a sacrilegious person and a squanderer of the monastery’s property, so that his correction may become an example to the rest. But why have we lingered with many words over the custody of books? Those who love them undoubtedly care for and preserve them, even if we are silent; and we cannot persuade the unskilled of this in vain. For fools despise the studies of the learned and do not love volumes unless they conform to their own vanities. Leaving these things aside, therefore, let us proceed to an exhortation of our own men, who both love and read books.

Exhortation to the Study and Love of the Scriptures

Chapter 16

Now therefore, dearest brothers, receive our exhortation with goodwill, and diligently prepare yourselves for writing books of sacred doctrine. For from those things which we have set forth in commendation of writings, you perceive what you ought to think about such an office. Therefore do not neglect so great a good; do not cease from the study of writing. For writing is what in a certain way makes you immortal, and survivors even after death. Let individuals do what they will; let them glory in an office [unclear]; they quickly come to [unclear]; but your memory, from the books which you write, will pass with glory to posterity.

Nor do we say that you ought to write with this intention, since this can happen apart from intention. Far be such foolish desire from a holy work: that it should covet empty fame as the reward for labor. But if you wish to imprint your names on the books written by you, it must be done with this intention: that you aim to summon posterity either to intercession or to imitation. For with such a view you can safely and lawfully subscribe title-headings of your names to your books.

It is also not undeservedly believed that for you, O venerable writers, who write useful things from a good intention, accidental merit comes to your aid after death, whenever someone is summoned to repentance by your writing. You poor men have nothing from which you can give alms, nor do you possess anything by which you might validate a testament for your remembrance. Hear therefore my counsel, lest you depart from this life without a notable testament. Write with diligence the books and little works of the holy fathers, and you will have made a glorious testament. For if a small alms of bread and water so effectively extinguishes sin, what will so great a piety of writers not be able to do?

If he who here feeds the poor who are subject to death will be richly rewarded before God, with how great a reward must you be endowed, who feed immortal souls? For spiritual gifts are rightly preferred to carnal ones. May those hands live and rest happily, which by their labors wrote out for us so many volumes of the holy fathers. Blessed are the labors of the venerable writer, by which the mother Church of the faithful is so magnificently sustained. May their memory be with the Most High, and may the names of the writers remain written without end in the book of life. May the Lord render to them the inestimable reward of their labors, and may they never be separated from his sight. May they drink there from the fountains of the Savior, who by their offices offered us the drink of salvation. May they live, live, and live happily forever, who handed down to us such timely counsels for living well.

Make for yourselves also testaments of this kind of holiness, which will never perish through any oblivion. Write books now while you live, and after death you will gather abundant fruit. Let no labor frighten you away from writing; let no pleasure hinder you. It will conduce more to your salvation to write by renewing the volumes of the saints than to enrich the poor with perishable riches. And indeed that is not so much difficult for you as impossible. Let worldly men follow their own studies; let dissolute monks be idle; let foolish abbots take delight in horses; let some wanderers sport with the birds of heaven; let others run about with hunting dogs. You, meditating on the law of the Lord, attend to sacred letters, and by your labors make provision for the Church in the future.

Although very many thirst without measure for gold, although they join field to field, although they build houses destined to fall high into the air, know that the fame of your name rests in higher things, for whom it is not expedient to think similar thoughts about the world. You are higher than the world; do not disgracefully submit yourselves to what is lower. Strongly despise what you cannot love without fault. Write the books of the saints, and look upon them to be read with devotion, because nothing profits you so much for contempt of the world as if with love you devote study to the Scriptures.

This indeed is the most holy knowledge. It is a lamp to our feet, lest on this road full of darkness by which we walk we stumble; it is the companion of our journey, lest we go astray. This is set before the minds of the faithful as a mirror, so that the inner face may be seen clearly. For just as we behold the blemishes of our face in a material mirror, so in sacred Scripture we see the negligences of our actions. For it corrects us when we transgress, pricks us when we grow sluggish, rouses us when we are negligent, instructs us when we are ignorant. Holy Scripture is known to confer on us a great and incredible good, if it is read attentively with humble devotion. For it enlightens our understanding for instruction, draws the mind away from the vanities of the world, and reforms it in the love of God. Often, being drawn away by familiarity with it, we are separated from the desires of the world to such a degree that we seem to ourselves not to be in the world. And the longer we abide in love of it, the less we think about the changefulness of the age. For true joy, which takes its strength from the sole truth, which is God, despises both the pleasant and the harsh things of this world as dung. For the happiness of this world, too intensely pondered, harms the servants of God. But no greater or more wholesome joy is acquired in this life than if the mind, well conscious of itself, is occupied with love in the sacred writings. It gladdens the mind of man with inestimable joy; while it is examined with piety by its lover, the eye of the heart is sweetly lulled in contemplation of heavenly things. Nothing separates a monk so much from the love of this world as if he devotes his mind to sacred readings with desire at every time. For holy blessings are contained in the divine Scriptures; when we run through them in attentive reading, we most sweetly perceive the force of divine love. I have not experienced so powerful a burning of the love of God as the loving knowledge of the holy Scriptures. Love it, and it will exalt you before God and men, and together with it you will possess all good things. For he who truly holds it possesses all things. For it is the teacher of the discipline of God, and has knowledge friendly to him. Now therefore, brothers, hear me, and cultivate this mother of beautiful love with all devotion, so that through its service you may deserve to be brought to the throne of glory of the great God. For in the court of the heavenly emperor this mother is very well known, like a queen. Let us consider, O brothers, the most reverend monks of our order, who once burned with great desire for the holy Scriptures; and let us imitate their holy studies as much as we can, so that we too may deserve to come to the glory which, by the Lord’s bounty, they attained through learning and holiness. Let no one say in his own excuse, “I cannot advance without a teacher,” since teachers can always be found for those who are disposed. Purge the [unclear] of your race, and God will cause the wheat of the Scriptures to be brought in. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee what is feigned, nor will it dwell in a body subject to sins. Therefore let the house of conscience be cleansed, so that it may become a worthy dwelling of the Scriptures, because the monk who wishes to learn the sacred Scriptures usefully must begin from the correction of morals. Nor ought you to abandon the monastery for the sake of study, because you can find at home the means by which you may advance. For we know that many very learned monks once shone in our order, whom we know to have studied only in monasteries. Bede, priest and monk, most skilled in every respect, was entrusted at the age of seven to a monastery, in which he drew forth whatever he learned of the Scriptures. Among others his most learned pupils were Alcuin, afterward teacher of Charles the Great; Claudius; and John Scotus, monks excelling in every doctrine, both divine and secular, instructed in Greek and Latin speech, of whom many distinguished little works survive. Rabanus, abbot and archbishop of Mainz, while still almost a boy, was entrusted to the monastery of Fulda; how much he advanced in every branch of knowledge his volumes bear witness. Yet the abbot of Fulda sent him from among his own monks to Francia for the sake of study, to Abbot Alcuin, of whom we have already made mention, under whose teaching he persevered for many years in the monastery. Strabus, monk of Fulda, is said to have been a disciple and scribe of Abbot Rabanus; he, having been given to the monastery as a youth, shone forth as an outstanding teacher. So Haymo; so Notger; so Hermannus Contractus; so other monks almost innumerable [unclear].

monks were considered outstanding teachers, who, living humbly under the Rule of Saint Benedict, had monasteries as their schools. Nor do we say that teachers were lacking to those who were regarded as instructors of others. They certainly had teachers, but monks, and companions in the regular life, who instructed them no less by life than by doctrine. We too might perhaps find teachers, if we were willing to be disciples. For unless humility and love of the Scriptures agree with one another, the studies of monks neither benefit the order nor make progress.

For love of the Scriptures without humility destroys the discipline of the regular life; humility without love does not attain to knowledge of them. Therefore whoever desires to become learned in a monastery should preserve these two things inviolate. Let us imitate the holy fathers, applying themselves to the divine Scriptures with humble love; and what divine grace bestowed on them, it will not deny to us as we pray and read diligently. For the more constant each person has been in reading, the richer the fruit he receives from them.

But the fruit that we seek in the sacred Scriptures is the love of God and neighbor, and the knowledge of our most gracious Savior.

The desired end is auspiciously placed upon this little work, elegant beyond measure, by Friedberg, the Mainz printer, in the year of the Virgin birth 1493.

Of the monastery of Chiemsee.